Secrets
by LJ Fan
Summary: During Rose Weasley's 7th year at Hogwarts, muggles find out that wizards exist among them. Rose wants to campaign for the removal of the International Statute, but it might cost her. Rose/Scorpius
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Oh my Rowling, I can't believe I'm writing fanfiction again. I haven't written in over three years and before that, it was another three years. Wow. Well, I've recently become obsessed with next generation fanfics, so I decided to write my own. It'll be Rose/Scorpius, from the perspective of Rose, but with a plot. I know everyone asks for reviews, but since it's been so long since I've written, I'd appreciate some constructive criticism. I want to thank Jade for inspiring me to write this. She has no idea that I'm writing it, but we plot and write head canons, and at some point, it turned into this.

**Disclaimer: **This is for the whole fic. Clearly, I do not own anything here, except for some made-up characters. If I owned more, I would obviously not be writing here.

I'm not sure where it started, to be honest.

Clearly, it was in my first year that Scorpius Malfoy and I became friends. Everyone was so shocked. And why wouldn't they be? Weasleys and Malfoys are not friends. They're enemies. They've been enemies forever.

I blame the Sorting Hat. If it wasn't for that silly garment meant to divide all of the students, this never would have happened.

But maybe it was my dad's fault. My dad had told me not to get too friendly with Scorpius, and people have told me before that I'm kind of a rebel.

I still feel like maybe it was that first time in Herbology though.

Or maybe it was all three events that, separate, mean nothing, but together, equal a friendship.

On the train to Hogwarts, I sat with Albus. It was just the two of us because our cousins waved us off, telling us to go meet other people. I think they just didn't want to hang around with first years. Albus and I were best friends since birth. We're the same age, so everyone expected us to be Gryffindors together like our parents. We were almost forced to be best friends.

Then Albus went and destroyed the plan because when he was Sorted, he got placed into Slytherin. Slytherin! Albus wasn't the first non-Gryffindor Weasley, even in our generation. Molly, my cousin from Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, was a Ravenclaw. And Louis, my cousin from Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, was a Hufflepuff. But he was the first Slytherin, and I knew from his face that he did not feel happy about that.

When I went, one of the last, of course, I also was not Sorted into Gryffindor, much to my surprise. I was placed in Ravenclaw. I thought my parents would be upset, but they were really quite happy. I think Dad was just happy I wasn't a Slytherin, to be honest.

So with Albus being a Slytherin, and me being Albus's best friend, it's only natural that I would also become best friends with his best friend, right?

It wasn't just that though. I first met Scorpius the next night at dinner. Since 1 September was a Friday that year, we had the whole weekend to mingle before classes started on Monday. Albus kept waving me over while I tried to enjoy my treacle tart. Abandoning my dessert, I walked over to the Slytherin table where he introduced me to Scorpius Malfoy.

I'm not sure I'll ever forget that moment. Scorpius and I both looked each other up and down. I had heard a lot of stories about the Malfoys from my parents. Unlike Albus, I wasn't much of a forgiver. You can thank my dad for that. Yet Scorpius looked so innocent. He almost looked… afraid of me.

Dad's warning not to get too friendly rang in my ear, but I ignored it when Scorpius reached out a hand for me to shake. "Rose Weasley," I had said, grinning, proud to be putting my family's prejudice behind me. I would be more adult than my parents ever were. Perhaps that was why I was in Ravenclaw. I was too level-headed to be a Gryffindor.

"Scorpius Malfoy," he replied, looking closely at me. "You've got something in your teeth." He continued. Horrified, I dropped my hand and ran back over to my table where I used a spoon as a mirror to clean myself up. I also tried to off myself with it, but it didn't work so well.

Needless to say, the next time I saw Scorpius in Herbology on Monday, I ignored him. I even ignored Albus, too, because they were so close to each other. I could not talk to one and ignore the other. Instead, I stood with my new Ravenclaw friends, Penny Waller and Jackie Davies.

Still, he drew my attention when Professor Longbottom asked us a question and he, Scorpius Malfoy, not me, answered first. Once again, I heard my dad's words, telling me to beat him in every test. My face was bright red and I wanted to cry because how could I already have failed my father twice in just a few days? I did not get in the house he wanted and I did not beat Malfoy yet. Still, I held it together and vowed to spend more time in the library. I would beat him.

For weeks, it seemed that Scorpius had the same idea I had. I saw him spend the same amount of time in the library that I did. We, of course, were at separate tables. Sometimes Albus sat with one of us, or sometimes my friends sat with me, but mostly it was him all alone at a table and me all alone at another table.

By the third week of this, I kept catching Scorpius looking at me, which made me blush every time, wondering if perhaps there was something on my face. Eventually that night, he came over to me and asked me a question about our History of Magic essay, "I'm rotten at this stuff," he said. "I try to stay awake, but Professor Binns makes it so difficult. It doesn't help that Al is always passing me notes."

And I laughed. Our History of Magic essays lay forgotten for the rest of the night, and the two of us talked.

Is it weird to say that he and I became friends over History of Magic? I think it's true though. I guess there are a lot of weird things about Scorpius and me.

"Rose… Rose… Rosie..." The boy in question waved his hand in front of me, using the nickname he knew I hated from anyone but my father.

I blinked several times, coming out of my memories. It was no longer first year. No, I was a seventh year now. Head Girl at that, too, I couldn't help thinking without pride. My parents were happy beyond words, of course. My father never returned for his seventh year and my mother did, but she apparently told Professor McGonagall, who had taken over as Headmistress for that year, that it would not be fair to take it away from someone who did not drop out of school.

"Rose!" Scorpius snapped his fingers in front of my face. Oh, right, getting carried away again.

"What?" I asked, now annoyed. I could hear Albus chuckling and I rolled my eyes. I really needed to hang out with girls more often. Boys were too annoying.

"I wanted to know what, or better yet, who you were fantasizing about," Scorpius replied, a lazy smirk on his face.

Without thinking, I replied, "You," before my face turned a beet red. Scorpius's cheeks also turned a delicate shade of pink, and Albus laughed even more.

"That's not what I meant," I hastily replied, trying to rectify the situation. "I was thinking about first year and how we all became friends." When Albus did not stop laughing, I continued, "I was trying to remember how I became so unlucky as to have to put up with mates like the pair of you."

Scorpius shook his head, now also laughing, "I remember. You had something in your teeth, didn't you?"

How did he remember that? My face burned even brighter and I was sorry I said anything at all.

"It was because of Slytherin Potter here," Scorpius continued. "Really, this boy kept me up all night going on and on about how his cousins and parents and brother and sister would all be so disappointed in him and he knew it was his father's fault for naming him after a Slytherin and he should have fought harder with the Sorting Hat. He kept saying how you would not want to be his friend anymore."

Now it was Albus's turn to blush as I laughed. "I wasn't going on and on. Just mentioned," Albus said. The way his eyes could not meet either of us made me believe that Scorpius probably did not get any sleep that night. Well, Albus could really drone on a lot.

"So is that why you looked so awful and pale the next day, Scor? Because my cousin kept you up?" I grinned wickedly at the implication. Everyone knew that Scorpius and Albus were as straight as arrows. They would have to be with all of the girls they go through week after week.

Scorpius looked down with his left eyebrow raised and I knew I was going to get it now, "Weasley, did I not just remind you that you had something in your teeth? What's your excuse for your appearance the next day?"

I flushed again, trying to come up with an excuse but my mind was blank. Eventually, I whined, "You're the worst Head Boy ever."

It had come as no surprise when Scorpius and I were made Head Students for the year. We were the top two students in our year since we started. Don't ask who's first. It's constantly changing and it's a fierce competition. It slowed down a bit in fifth year when we discovered hormones and that it's more fun to snog someone than to study, but even still, we managed to keep our grades up.

Scorpius tugged gently on one of my red curls, "Worst Head Boy for the worst Head Girl." He was so snarky sometimes.

Albus, who had grown bored of our teasing, looked out the window, "Crikey, we're almost there. We better get changed."

When sitting in a compartment comprised of two boys and a girl, we learned a long time ago that it was easier to come half-dressed. I wore my black school skirt, a white blouse and my black heels. The boys wore their black pants and white dress shirts. Then when neared Hogwarts, we'd put on our vests, ties and robes. It was much easier than changing out of muggle clothing because then you did not have to wait around for an open stall in the loo, or worse, change in front of a cousin or a member of the opposite sex.

We talked straight through the rest of the train ride until we reached the train station. We left our trunks on the train as instructed, as if we did not already know by this point, and walked to get a carriage ride. I knew from lessons that thestrals pulled the carriages, but luckily enough, I could not see them.

A sad thought struck me as I clambered into the carriage without managing to flash anyone (a feat that takes practice), "Do you realize this is our last time we'll be arriving on 1 September? I can't believe it's our last year!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes at me, "Rose, are you going to start crying on us now? I haven't a hankey to lend you and even if I did, I wouldn't since that's disgusting."

I punched him in the arm. People always tell me I'm violent, but I'm just a girl, so I know it doesn't hurt, "I am not going to cry. I'm just trying to get you to appreciate it."

Albus didn't say anything and I could tell that he was trying to hide how sad he was. At least someone understood how important this was. He finally looked at me, "But we're going to our last opening feast!"

I nodded, trying not to look too sad myself. I was about to give him some comforting words when he interrupted me, "But I love the opening feast. Next year, I'll have to make my own food. I hate cooking. I wonder if I can get my own house elf…"

I sighed as he trailed off.

Why was I so unlucky to have guys for friends?


	2. Instructions

"And that's why you should never tickle a dragon," I said, finishing a tale about my adventures with Uncle Charlie this summer. My parents bounced me around different relatives, trying to get me to change my mind about becoming an Unspeakable after Hogwarts. It didn't work, but at least I had interesting stories to tell my friends.

I finished my advice just as the last of the desserts disappeared to be replaced by gleaming bright dishes. Almost as if we were trained, all heads automatically swerved to where Headmistress Catherine Rinaldi stood at the podium. She smiled brightly at us all, waiting for the last of the talkers to finish their gossiping.

Headmistress Rinaldi started as headmistress in 2000. Up till then, Professor McGonagall filled the position, but made it known she wanted a replacement. She told anyone who tried to get her to stay that she preferred teaching Transfiguration to becoming Headmistress.

When Headmistress Rinaldi was hired, everyone was surprised. She only had about a decade of teaching experience, and that was at Beauxbatons. She was English, but fluent in French, as well as a whole number of other languages. She did not do much her first year, but by her second year, she completely revamped everything. She wanted to challenge students more academically and promote inter-house relations. Whenever she tried to make a change, she faced multiple cries for her resignation, but she's still here.

One of her biggest changes since she started was adding an Inter-House Common Room. I suppose I could blame that also for a reason why Scorpius and I became friends. We met there almost daily to talk to Albus, and at some point, we also started talking like best friends. It's very heavily patrolled, but still has occasional accidents. For the most part, it was deemed a success to the absolute surprise of everyone. It essentially was just like a regular common room, but filled with ugly, non-favouritism colours, such as purple, white and pink. Yes, it's very girly, but people would never tolerate having blue in the inter-house common room because that promoted Ravenclaw, so they were stuck with the few colours the founders did not pick.

Another big change was adding classes. She said the classes that were available now severely limited skills because only a few subjects were available. In my opinion, they already had a lot of classes. She has since added Languages (available to be started in a student's second year that covers the most necessary languages. Mostly used for people who want to go in International Relations later in life), Research Techniques (available to be started in a student's third year that is a class where students learn how to better research in the library and learn essay writing. Mostly for people who never could figure out the Library or who want to have a writing job later in life), and Teaching (available to started in a student's sixth year if he or she wants to pursue a teaching career later in life).

In addition to those changes, she also regulated classes more. Fourth year of Charms now is a 'Homemaking' year. Students learn household cleaning spells, healing spells and cooking spells. In addition, each subject now has a lot more theory behind it. It means we learn less spells, but apparently improvement is quite noticeable. The only subject that hasn't changed is History of Magic. Apparently Headmistress Rinaldi tried firing Professor Binns and he just never stopped showing up to class, so she gave up.

As I thought about all of these changes, I realized I had already missed the entire speech. Around me, students were already standing up to go back to their common rooms. Oops. Oh well, Scorpius would update me later. I heard the fifth year prefects call for first years, waved goodbye to my Ravenclaw friends and sought Scorpius. In our letters, we were told to meet with Headmistress Rinaldi after the Welcome Feast.

When I found Scorpius, I asked, "So what did you think of her speech just now?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes and answered, "I didn't pay any attention. Why, did I miss something?"

I shrugged, "I missed it, too. Let's go meet with her and see if she'll update us then."

We walked together in silence, something not uncommon for us. I found out in second year that Scorpius hated people who talked just to fill the silence, something I often did at that point. Now I also learned to appreciate the beauty of silence.

When I reached the Headmistress' office, I slowly spoke the password, trying to get the phrasing right, "Enseigner, c'est apprendre deux fois." Always the lover of languages and education, her passwords combined both. This translated to "To teach is to learn twice."

We knocked and she told us to enter and sit. The plate of biscuits on her desk went ignored, probably assuming we ate half our weight in food already at the feast. That was true for me at least. Everyone tells me I inherited my father's appetite.

"Welcome back and congratulations to you both," Headmistress Rinaldi said with a large smile. When I first saw her, I thought she had a fake personality, but she really believed all she said. "Now, I'm sure you both are very tired from your long journey, but I just wanted to explain some things and if you have any questions about your new positions, just ask. Being Head Boy and Girl comes with a lot of responsibilities, ones that I know you will handle excellently, which is why I picked you both. You are the top two students in your year and you both are in a variety of clubs. Students look up to you. Also, you exemplify the inter-house relations. It's a perfect match, I must say."

I wondered how much longer she would continue to praise us, but apparently that was the end of it.

She continued, "Now, you both have been wonderful prefects your fifth and sixth years, so you'll find that you already know most of what you have to do. As Heads, you'll have to plan the prefect meetings and conduct them. You choose the frequency, but in the past, we have found that weekly or bi-weekly meetings usually work best. I look to you to also meet one-on-one with the prefects to see if there are any problems that need to be fixed. I trust you can handle those yourselves. Finally, one of the biggest tasks is the Inter-House Common Room. That is largely your responsibility. An assigned professor will open the common room daily, but, as you know, they do not patrol it or close it. Therefore, whenever you have some free time, and yes, as seventh years, I realize that is hard to find, but even just a few minutes, pop into the common room, make sure nothing is wrong. Then one of you will need to close it either when the last person leaves or at 9 p.m. every night. This usually is done on a routine by the Heads, alternating days."

Headmistress Rinaldi paused, smiling even wider and she looked down at the list I now saw on her desk. She placed a little checkmark on something and then looked back at us, "So, are there any questions?"

I looked at Scorpius. I knew during interviews (for that was what it felt like) like this, it was intelligent to ask questions about the new position, but I could not think of anything more than how much I wanted to crawl into bed and just sleep.

He looked back at me and shook his head, "No, ma'am," he answered. "I think you've covered everything quite well."

Headmistress Rinaldi beamed at him and I tried not to roll my eyes. Scorpius could melt the heart of any woman alive.

"Excellent, now, just one last thing. I trust that we will all have a wonderful year together. I know you, Ms. Weasley, wish to undertake a difficult career in the Ministry of Magic, and you, Mr. Malfoy, wish to become a Healer at St. Mungo's. Both are very admirable and just know that, at the end of the year, if we have as good a year as I imagine we will, I would be more than happy to write recommendations for you both."

I grinned for the first time all night. That was why I wanted to become Head Girl. Well, that, and I wanted to impress my parents. I knew that becoming an Unspeakable was one of the most challenging careers possible. No one even knew how to apply for the job. All anyone knew, and yes, I asked many, many people, was that if you had enough contacts, they found you. Well, with my father, my uncle Harry and now Headmistress Rinaldi all vouching for me, I was a shoe-in.

Scorpius and I thanked her for her time and left together, still silent. Once out of earshot, Scorpius folded his arms and looked very cross, "D'you know how much work all of this will be? Popping into the common room all of the time? I already have a full schedule to even become a Healer. I'm in charge of Charms club this year, Flitwick told me at the end of last year. I'm helping at the Hospital Wing twice a week for experience. Not to mention, oh yeah, I need to study so I can even have a prayer at becoming a Healer. Then we have to plan weekly Head meetings? She's mad!"

I never thought about that. Scorpius was right (oh, how I hated even thinking such a foul phrase), "Well, I guess it is a bit much. But, you know, we only had monthly prefect meetings last year and that seemed just fine. You're also not the only busy person, Scorp," I said, using the nickname he hated. Now he had me panicked and I would not let him think he was the only person who did not have enough hours in the week, "I'm taking just as many classes as you are. I have to do just as well, too. I'm applying for a damned position without even knowing what I'm getting myself into. I don't know what classes I need, so I have to take all of the most important ones. I'm in charge of the Chess Club, don't you forget." He did have me on the Hospital Wing though and he knew it, which explained his smug look. I wish I could have experience like that.

Still with the smirk, Scorpius dropped his arms, "Yes, Rosie," he replied, getting back at me with the nickname I hated most, "We're both busy. When we get our schedules tomorrow, we'll figure out how we'll get everything done. Come over to the Slytherin table when you get yours, so we don't have to exclude Al. You know how he gets when he doesn't feel included." Scorpius rolled his eyes, reminding me of when Scorpius got the prefect badge fifth year and Albus didn't. For the first week of school, Albus did not say a single word to Scorpius, even when they were paired together in Potions.

I nodded, "Yeah, see you tomorrow then." We waved goodbye as he walked toward the Slytherin Common Room and I walked toward Ravenclaw territory. I knew I would never get any sleep tonight. I had too much to do. Scorpius would expect me to already know exactly what to cover at the prefect meeting. I would want to take charge, after all. I would have to talk to the house elves and get some food from them for the meeting, but not tell my mother, of course. Hogwarts still did not pay the house elves, but only because the house elves did not want it. Whenever I went for food though, I always took some sort of trinket down with me, never clothes. Just useless stuff they found amazing, like muggle money or a rhinestone that fell off a hair band. I wish I had a notebook so I could make a checklist like Headmistress Rinaldi did. There was just too much to do.

It was going to be a long year.

**Author's Notes: **I decided to do this at the end so we could jump right into the story. My apologies for the delay in the chapter. I just had no inspiration for it. This chapter is boring, but sets up a lot for future chapters and it had to be done. The next chapter starts the plot and we see more of Rose's snark. Thanks for reviewing McShnellyazz and Jade! Feel free to use the review section to suggest ideas for the fic or predict what will happen.


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